Gas Prices Jump After Steady Decrease
Walnut Creek, CA– Despite earlier drops in gas prices, some parts of California are putting the brakes on an early summer price slump.
According to AAA, all but one Northern California metro area tracked saw a double digit decrease at the pump over the past month.
The state’s average for a gallon of regular, unleaded gasoline is $3.78, down 16 cents since last month. For comparison, that’s 64 cents higher than California’s average price on this date last year.
Northern California gas prices now average $3.77, down 15 cents from last month.
The national average price of $3.64 is down by 6 cents, which is 92 cents more than the national price on this date last year, when it was $2.72.
“There has been huge volatility with crude oil prices recently, which is reflected in the gas prices that consumers are seeing at the pump,” explained AAA Northern California spokesperson Matt Skryja. “This recent jump in pump prices, across many parts of Northern California, comes as demand for gasoline rose over the last week. Prior to that, demand had dropped the last two weeks in June.”
Recently, investors have been spurred to buy more crude oil by a weak U.S. dollar and positive news about Greece’s financial future. This helped to drive up the price of crude, with gas prices following.
Also, positive economic news spurs investors to buy, as they see growing economic strength as an indication that demand will increase. Last week, a reversal of this positive outlook started to take hold. Poor jobs numbers in the U.S. and economic concerns about Portugal and China helped to curb investors’ buying activity and helped to put downward pressure on crude prices.
The least expensive average price in Northern California can be found in Marysville, Modesto, and Tracy where regular is $3.66. The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas in downtown Sonora is $3.71.
For information on gas prices in the area click here.
Written by tina.falco@mlode.com
